Nisha Jose, the wife of an MP from Kerala, has stirred controversy after alleging in her memoir that she was “harassed” by the son of a legislator.
Nisha Jose is the wife of Kottayam MP Jose Mani, and the daughter-in-law of Congress leader KM Mani. In her memoir ‘The Other Side Of This Life - Snippets of My Life as a Politician's Wife,’ which released on 15 March, she had raised allegations that she was “harassed” while she was on a train journey in 2012.
Although Nisha did not reveal the man's identity and the date of her journey in the book, Shone George, son of P C George, MLA, in a complaint on 17 March, alleged that she sought to paint him as the man who allegedly harassed her, through her memoir.
In his complaint to the DGP, Shone said propaganda was being spread through social media targeting him following her allegation, and termed it a politically motivated move to defame him and his father in the public eye.
Shone added that he has never travelled with Nisha or humiliated her and demanded an independent probe into the incident mentioned in the book and find out the truth.
Nisha mentions in her book that while waiting at the railway station a man introduced himself to her. Later, he sat next to her during the train journey and started talking.
Nisha says in the book that she dropped polite hints that she was very sleepy but he paid no heed to her hints and "went on and on."
‘Ticket Examiner Failed to Help’
When asked why she did not complain immediately after the incident, Nisha, in an address to state media, said that she felt it was a private dispute and that she had already confronted her “harasser” after the incident, and showed him that he had done something wrong.
"I discreetly went to the TTR (ticket examiner) and expressed my plight, requesting him to help me out by getting this 'gentleman' to leave my seat."
The official said "If this 'gentleman' is anything like his father I dare not intervene," Nisha states in the book released on 15 March.
She said she sat crouched on her seat as far back as she could.
Occasionally his hand would accidentally brush past my toes as he shifted his position. And every time he did so accidentally, I was uncomfortable and felt violated. I firmly asked him to leave. However, my decency made me explain that I had to get off the train in just two hours or so, considerately making no mention of his impropriety.Excerpt from Jose’s book
Shone has also demanded legal action against those who humiliated him on social media.
(With inputs from PTI, NDTV, and The News Minute)
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